I am a leadership advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs and Boards, author of "Hacking Leadership" (Wiley) and "Leadership Matters" (2007), the Chairman at N2Growth, a member of the board of directors at the Gordian Institute and recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the top leadership thinkers globally. I am also a syndicated columnist and contributing editor on topics of leadership, innovation and problem solving. I have been married for nearly 30 years and am a proud father and grandfather.

6 Steps for Creating a Game Changer

At one time or another all great leaders experience something so big and so impactful it literally changes the landscape – it’s what I call a “Game Changer.” A game changer is that ah-ha moment where you see something others don’t. It’s the transformational magic that takes organizations from ordinary to exceptional. In today’s column I’ll provide you with a blue print for manufacturing ah-ha moments. I hope this piece is a game changer for you…

Relentless Pursuit Ever wonder how people come up with the proverbial big idea? They work at it. Put simply, the best leaders proactively focus on pursing game changers. They’re never satisfied with the ordinary or mundane. Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and other CEOs recognized for their big ideas didn’t just get lucky – they were/are committed to the constant pursuit of game changers. They aren’t just dreamers – they are doers. Successful leaders are nothing if not persistent, committed individuals who understand potential is of little value if said potential fails to be realized.

Be Original One of the things wrong with today’s marketplace is there’s far too much rehashing of old ideas spun as new. Great leaders aren’t copycats – they abhor me too business methodologies. Leaders who pursue game changers have no patience for the status quo – they focus their efforts on shattering the status quo. Game changers refuse to allow their organizations to adopt conventional orthodoxy and bureaucracy – they challenge norms, break conventions, and they encourage diversity of thought. The message here is a simple one – don’t copy create. Don’t just play the game – change the game. The goal is to create, improve on, and innovate around best practices in order to find next practices.

Develop A Clear Purpose Leaders who create or inspire game changers are nothing if not aware. Not only are they self-aware, they’re aware of the emotions and needs of others, and they are also clearly aware of what will be embraced in the market. They possess a refined blend of intrinsic curiosity and extrinsic focus. Perhaps most of all, game changing leaders are in touch with a greater purpose – they understand the value of serving something beyond themselves. As many of you know, I’m participating in the Conscious Capitalism CEO Summit in Austin, Texas this week where CEOs understand profit and purpose are not mutually exclusive terms. CEOs from companies like Whole Foods, Zappos, Gibson Guitars, The Container Store, Louisville Slugger, Humana, Tata, and other leading brands, are collaborating with CEOs of emerging brands, non-profits and NGOs to find the next wave of purpose driven game changers. If you want to create a real game changer have a purpose that serves, improves, helps, and inspires.

Take the qualities I’ve mentioned above and apply them to the following framework and you’ll find ah-ha moments a bit easier to come by. The following 6 steps represent my personal process for finding and implementing game changers – I call it SMARTS (Simple-Meaningful-Actionable-Relational-Transformational-Scalable):

Simple – While not all game changers are simple, the best ones usually are. It was Albert Einstein who said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” In most cases simple can be translated as realistic, cost effective, quick to adopt, and fast to implement. Don’t get entangled in complexities – become heavily invested in simplicity.

Meaningful – game changers have great purpose, meet a need, solve a problem, serve an existing market, or create a new one – they are meaningful. Most leaders get sucked down into the weeds and spend too much of their valuable time majoring in the minors. If it’s not really meaningful, if it doesn’t serve a greater purpose, if it’s not a game changer, why do it? Ideas, products, services and/or solutions that focus on value creation fare better than those that don’t.

Actionable – It’s not a game changer if whatever “it” is never gets off the drawing board. If you cannot turn an idea into innovation, if you can’t put thought into practice, then it’s not a game changer. By definition game changers happen, they exist, they have life. They don’t lurk in the shadow-lands of the ethereal and esoteric, they become reality.

Relational – I have found game changers enhance, extend, and leverage existing relationships, as well as serve to create new ones. When you get down to brass tacks, all business boils down to people (employees, customers, partners, investors, vendors, etc.), and people mean relationships. Real game changers understand the power of people and relationships, and they embody this in both their construction and implementation. If you forget the people, you cannot have a game changer.

Transformational – I have yet to see a static game changer. By definition, a game changer causes change. If nothing changes, if nothing is created, if nothing is improved, if nothing is transformed, then you don’t have a game changer. A lesson that I learned long ago is that you simply cannot experience sustainable improvement without transformation.

Scalable – if it’s not scalable it’s not a game changer. An idea that offers no hope of a future will more often than not turn into a nightmare rather than fulfill a dream. True game changers are built with velocity and sustainability in mind. The best thing about real games changers is they build upon themselves to catalyze other accretive opportunities.

So there you have it – now that I’ve shared my thoughts on creating game changers, my SMARTS if you will, it’s your turn to share. Share an ah-ha moment, an experience, an observation or thought, but please share. This piece can be a game changer to many people if those who read it are willing to share their collective wisdom. Thoughts?

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I did not know the Einstein quote, but I do remember my Dad telling me to “get my facts right in future” or my teacher saying “you haven’t done your homework again” so I guess that these matters all boil down to the same thing.

Today in business we have to know the market, the players, government initiatives, shortest routes round immovable objects, infrastructure ( a word commonly used ), suprastructure (a word seemingly unknown to the business world but equally essential) and how we are going to get where we are going without running out of fuel. The game changer is the driver who says “I know an easier route”, the persuer will say “let me show you the way”, you will find his route will be original and purposeful. I would say that using this analogy and delivering a cause and effect situation, you would need to ask yourself “would you travel again like this”?, in most cases I think the answer would be yes.

While reading, I thought back on various times I have brought “Game Changers” to the table; it is astounding peoples efforts to keep the status quo because they are comfortable within its boundaries.

I like your “SMARTS” method Mike – what a great way to explain the process.

I use this same concept in my work coaching managers and supervisors how to increase productivity, motivation and enhance the chemistry between members in work groups.

I coach following in my work;

1. Make solutions simply so everyone can implement an idea; without failure.

2. Get peoples buy in and engagement by ensuring the idea has meaning to the teams daily needs and culture issues.

3. Clearly highlight how it is feasibly and actionable for all group members to participate, as well, what the WIFM factor is for each person.

4. Clarify your ideas with your employees, inquire if and how the “game changer” relates to their workplace needs, issues and barriers that effect their capabilities and capacities to excel to their best.

I have found support employees often feel most Senior Executives “miss the mark” when trying to relate to the issues and barriers the staff are facing, and that many actually impede their progress or production in the front-line environment.

Great article! Organizational culture cultivates leaders who possess these qualities and drive this framework. If not, the authenticity of the “relentless pursuit quality” will express itself no matter what- AKA, go out on your own.

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